Genesis

In recent times, Nigeria has been declared one of the worst countries to live in due to her record of widespread corruption, injustice, violence and lack of security which have turned many of her citizens into prey for kidnappers. Speaking on the rate of kidnapping in the country, it has turned into a big money-making industry for criminals to the level that statistics showed geometrically increased in the number of kidnapped Nigerians between 2014 to date. The Dictionary defines kidnapping as: ‘the abduction or holding of people hostage either to take ransom from the victim’s family or as a sacrifice for ritual money or as extenuating appeasement to win the political appointment. Thousands of innocent Nigerians, including Chibok Girls, politicians, government officials, influential people and kings had, however, been kidnapped by criminals and most of the time, these criminals are labelled either bandits or terrorists.

Victims recount

While some of these victims were released after their families had paid huge amounts of money as ransom, some of them were able to escape after being tortured or raped and others were incarcerated to die of mysterious hunger. As one of the 36 states in Nigeria, Osun State is adjudged the most relatively peaceful in terms of security of life and prosperity. There had not been cases of kidnapping for ransom purposes as such compared to intimidating cases in other states of the federation. Though, it’s not that it had never happened at all but the rate is not as worrisome as it used to be in other parts of the country.

Allegations galore

Alas!, the alleged increasing number of kidnapping cases for ritual purposes in the state is becoming worrisome and had put many residents of the state into confusion and seriously generated hullabaloo. Some residents who spoke to New Telegraph said they are now finding it difficult to send their children on errands in the streets because of the fear of them being kidnapped by ritualists. One of the residents, Muhammad Ayatulahi, who spoke to our correspondent narrated how his younger sister was kidnapped from their rented apartment on the day of her birthday by suspected ritualists and is yet to be found to date. Ayatulahi explained that his sister, Nafisat Muhammad, was residing at Baruwa, Old Governor’s Office Area, Osogbo and she was kidnapped by yet-to-beidentified kidnappers suspected to be ritualists. He added that the 30-yearold abducted lady was whisked away by her abductors for alleged ritual purposes on the day of her birthday. Muhammad, who spoke sympathetically, said, “On April 19, 2022, my younger sister, Nafisat by name was kidnapped from our rented apartment located at popular Baruwa Street, Ogo-Oluwa, Osogbo. It was the day she clocked 30 years. She was preparing for her birthday when the incident happened. “Nafisat, due to her condition, was living with our sister, and on that faithful day, she went to buy a recharge card. And when she returned from where she went to buy the card, she put both the recharge card and the phone on the bed. We didn’t know anything until later when we could not see her around. We checked inside her room, we couldn’t find her, that was when we raised alarm and up till this moment, we had not set our eyes on her.”

Residents lament

Also, at number 37 Onirodunu Street, Baruwa area, Old Governor’s Office, Ogo Oluwa Area, a physically challenged man, popularly known as Alfa Shakiru got missing sometimes around May this year and up till now he too is nowhere to be found. One of his sisters, who spoke to our Correspondent under the condition of anonymity, said Alfa Shakiru went to pray at a nearby mosque around 7p.m, sometime in the month of May, saying they waited for him to return home till after 8p.m, and when he didn’t return, that was when they realized he had been kidnapped. She further explained that they thought he wanted to stay back till 8:00 pm to observe the last solat for the day not until they later got to know he had left the mosque after the first salat observed around 7:00 pm. “We looked around. We could not find him, for over four months now we could not find him. I pray he had not fallen into the hands of those Yahoo-Yahoo guys who have gained pleasure in using fellow human beings for money sacrifice.” Also, on August 2, a 65-oldwoman was killed inside her farmland. Her eye was removed by her killers suspected to be ritualists. In a statement by the police, the family reported that after three days of being declared missing in Ilesa, Osun State,the 65-year-old woman, Oluyemi Tunmise, was found murdered by suspected ritualists. Osun State Police Command, Spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, said the corpse of the woman was found in her farmland with one of her eyes plucked out. The New Telegraph gathered that the family of the victim had launched a search for her when she got missing last weekend before her corpse was found on her farm on Monday. Opalola said the daughter of the deceased reported the discovery of her mother’s corpse to the police. She said, “At about 1.00p.m on Monday, one Dare Oluyemi of Odundun Area Ilesa reported that her mother, Oluyemi Tunmise, 65, who the family had been searching for since Saturday, had been found dead. “She said her mother was found dead with one of her eyes removed by yet-to-be-identified assailants on her farm at Fadahunsi Area of Ilesa, at about 11:30a.m on Monday. The police had visited the scene of the crime and had taken photographs.

Police reaction

The PRO stressed that the complainant, who reported the incident and the other children of the deceased, however, refused the police to take the body of their mother to the mortuary or carry out further investigation. She said they threatened to unleash violence and that they wished to bury the corpse. In another reported case, on August 17, 2022, a young lady reportedly escaped from the captivity of ritualists in Osogbo, the capital city of Osun State. Speaking in a viral video circulating on the internet, the young lady disclosed that she was kidnapped while she was trying to take a bike from her house to the Ayetoro area of the town. Explaining further, she noted that after she has already taken the bike and headed to her destination, a young man stopped the bike and said he was going to the same area the lady was going and according to her. She shifted to the front while the man sat at her back. On getting on top of the bike, the man showed her a gun and asked if she would cooperate or be killed and she was left with no option but to keep mute while she was being moved inside a commercial minibus called “Korope” where she met some other people that have also been captured by the group of ritualists. They were subsequently driven out of Osogbo, heading along Osogbo-Ilesha road where she was being pushed out of the bus when they discovered she would not be useful to them.

Various incidents

In Iwo, Iwo Local Government Area of the state, a 22-yearold woman was kidnapped and she was thereafter murdered by the suspected ritualists A 22-year-old lady simply identified as Shakirat, was March 11 dumped behind her mother’s shop by her killers in Iwo, with her vital parts all removed. It was gathered that the deceased was dumped at Oke- Oore Iwo by her killers. New Telegraph gathered that the lady left the house and did not return until her corpse was found behind her mother’s shop. As a result of the escalating cases of kidnapping, Osun State Government has alerted residents to be cautious of the commercial transport operators they patronize. The government, through an intelligence report, said it was aware of the infiltration of the ranks of commercial transport operators in the state by some criminal elements who were now attempting to harm unsuspecting citizens using motorcycles and mini-buses (korope) especially.

Osun govt’s response

The Commissioner for Information and Civil Orientation, Mrs Funke Egbemode, while reacting to the video of the young lady who was fortunate to escape from the ritualists said: “We are therefore calling on residents of the state to be more security-conscious as they move around the state, and especially avoid motorcycles, minibuses or buses without registration numbers. “Citizens are also advised to report, through the state’s emergency line, all suspicious movements or presence around their communities or places of residence.

“The various transport associations are also directed to dispatch their enforcement teams towards ensuring the strict adherence to the safety guidelines and rules laid down by the Ministry of Works and Transport. Specifically, the National Union of Road Transport Workers is charged not to allow any of its members to be used for nefarious activities that threaten the security of the state. “The security formations of the State have been fully briefed on this new development, and appropriate actions are being taken to ensure that these unscrupulous elements do not disrupt the peace of the State. The government of Mr Adegboyega Oyetola will continue to do everything possible to protect citizens of the state from actual and potential threats.”

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